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1914- Milledge (Bill) was born in Harold, Florida
on November 7, 1914. He was the third and last child of three children born to Charles Robinson
Cooper and Mary Ann Matthews.
1920- Bill at the age of 6 and his older brother, Marshall, age 8, went to live with their
grandparents James Fountain Cooper and Lucyann Missouri Levins Cooper. Milledge's parents were
going through a lengthy and difficult divorce and Milledge's father thought it best that he and
his older brother stay with their grandparents. Bills older sister, Clara, stayed with one
of his father's younger sisters, Lorina Cooper, and her husband Floyd Mollie Cooper, Sr.
1928- Bill's older brother, Marshall, joined the Navy at the age of 16 after his father
had signed the necessary papers allowing him to do so while Bill continued to live at his grandparents
home for a while and then moved back to his father's home. His father was, at that time, married
to his third wife, Viola, and owned and operated three stores in Flomaton, Alabama. Bill attended
school in Flomaton at that time.
1930- Based on Federal Census records, Bill, his older brother Marshall, his father and
stepmother, Viola, where register in Century, Escambia County, Florida.
1934- At the age of 20, Bill enlist in the Army Cavalry.
1936- At the age of 22 Bill re-enlisted for the Air Corps. He served on Corregidor in the
Philippine Islands from 1936 through 1938.
1940s- In World War II, he was attached to the Caribbean Air Command and flew on missions
as a flight engineer.
1943- Bill and Dot (Dorthy Margret Barrow Cooper) had their first child, Jimmy Flynn Cooper,
on August 3, 1943 in Marianna, Florida.
After the war, he served in New Orleans, Alaska and Europe. He participated in the Berlin Airlift,
for which he was awarded the Humane Action Medal.
He later worked for NASA where he received several awards for innovative designs that were used in
the early space fights.
1963- Bill and Dot had their second child, Scottie Joe Laine Cooper, on February 17, 1963 in Pensacola, Florida.
1964- Bill and Dot had their third and last child, Patricia Page Cooper, on October 19, 1964
in Pensacola, Florida.
One of the things that I remember the most about my Uncle Bill was that he loved to fish and was
very good at it. (Miles Davis Cooper)
1993- On June 30, 1993 Bill passed away. Bill's final resting place is in the Barrancas National
Cemetery at the Naval Base in Pensacola, Florida.
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